In the handwritten request, Eichmann claims he was not high-ranking enough to order the mass murder of Jews and was merely following orders.

Eichmann was in charge of implementing Adolf Hitler's "Final Solution," the plan to exterminate the Jews of Europe. Six million Jews were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II.

Eichmann was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity in 1961. He was hanged the following year — the only time Israel has ever carried out a death sentence.